A pre-alpha build of Call of Duty: Black Ops II has surfaced online, a full 12 years after the game’s initial release. The leak has set the FPS community abuzz, with Riley541 uploading gameplay footage on YouTube featuring a scrapped fifth DLC expansion.
This DLC was supposed to include remastered versions of classic zombies maps from previous entries World at War and Black Ops, reigniting interest among seasoned fans of the series.
For many, this leak is more than just an intriguing glimpse at what could have been, it’s a nostalgic trip back to a golden era of the franchise. Released in 2012, Black Ops II marked a significant turning point for Call of Duty. Prior to the series succumbing to the relentless pursuit of microtransactions, commercialized cosmetics, and shallow live-service mechanics. Back then, CoD delivered fully realized narrative campaigns that could captivate players for hours, rather than the fleeting experiences seen in today’s offerings.
Treyarch’s contributions to the franchise stand out as some of the most impactful, arguably even more so than Infinity Ward’s. Their introduction of Zombies mode, what began as a straightforward challenge to survive waves of zombified Nazis evolved into a cornerstone of the series. The mode’s creativity and depth redefined what a Call of Duty experience could be, securing Treyarch’s legacy in the eyes of countless fans.
I’ve always wondered why Treyarch seemingly left free money on the table by not catering to the millions of COD Zombies fans during Black Ops II’s post-launch window. Re-releasing the iconic maps from earlier games would’ve been an instant hit, yet they never pulled the trigger.
With Call of Duty titles notorious for having a shelf life of just one year, especially after the revitalization of the series with Modern Warfare (2007), it became standard for Activision to milk its audience with DLC expansions per game. These typically added a few multiplayer maps and little else, until Treyarch shook things up with World at War and its game-changing Nazi Zombies mode.
Each expansion pass introduced new multiplayer maps along with a single Zombies map, each bringing fresh mechanics and features like perk machines, traps, and eventually the game-changing Pack-a-Punch system introduced in Der Riese. What began as a barebones survival mode grew significantly, giving players new tools to stand a better chance against the undead.
The 2010 release of Black Ops took the mode to new heights, delivering six new Zombies maps over its lifespan. Each DLC expansion followed the formula of adding four multiplayer maps and a single Zombies map. However, the fourth and final DLC, Rezurrection, catered specifically to Zombies fans. It provided a narrative climax for Easter egg hunters with the introduction of the Moon map and reintroduced all four classic World at War maps for a dose of nostalgia.
In comparison, Black Ops II’s Zombies mode wasn’t as well-received, primarily due to its rocky start with the default map, TranZit. Widely regarded as one of the worst maps in the mode’s history, TranZit suffered from an overly ambitious design that couldn’t be fully realized on the hardware of the Xbox 360 and PS3. This led to missing content and deliberate design choices to slow players down, preventing the hardware from being overwhelmed by loading too many assets at once.
The disappointment continued with Die Rise, a unique yet lackluster map set in collapsing Chinese skyscrapers, where the concept of “verticality” was taken to frustrating extremes. However, Treyarch redeemed themselves with subsequent DLCs, introducing standout maps like Mob of the Dead, an iconic adventure centered around escaping Alcatraz Island, followed by Buried and Origins.
Despite this redemption, no DLC reintroduced the majority of the original World at War maps or any from 2010’s Black Ops. This inconsistency left fans divided on Black Ops II’s Zombies offerings, leading many to revisit the earlier titles to satisfy their Zombies cravings.
However, with 2015’s Black Ops III, Treyarch finally gave fans what they had been asking for by releasing a fifth DLC expansion titled Zombies Chronicles. This fan-service-packed addition brought back three maps from World at War, along with Kino der Toten, Ascension, Shangri-La, and Moon from Black Ops. It also included Origins, one of the standout maps from Black Ops II, giving fans a chance to relive some of the greatest hits in Zombies history.
I always wondered why Treyarch seemingly avoided generating easy revenue with minimal effort by repackaging classic maps for Black Ops II. As it turns out, there was a plan for this all along.
Black Ops II was intended to have a fifth and final DLC expansion, which was supposed to launch during the lifecycle of its successor, Call of Duty: Ghosts. However, this DLC was likely canceled to avoid stepping on Infinity Ward’s toes, as Activision probably feared players would either quit Ghosts or skip buying it altogether in favor of sticking with Black Ops II.
Over the years, various in-game files related to what would have been Black Ops II’s final DLC have leaked. While not as extensive as the leaked gameplay footage, these leaks included in-game icons that would have appeared when selecting the maps in question. Now, after more than a decade, we finally have confirmation that this expansion was indeed in development.
MrPinball64 recently uncovered two builds of the game containing the unreleased DLC 5. One build featured an alpha version of the Origins map, complete with missing textures, placeholders, and notable differences compared to its final version. This early alpha build even included a new intro for the Ultimis crew, providing fascinating insights into what might have been.
It’s a real shame that the final DLC pack for Black Ops II never saw the light of day. While it’s understandable from a business standpoint, Treyarch had already remastered the original World at War maps and dropped them into Black Ops just two years earlier, there was still a missed opportunity here. Black Ops II was at the peak of the franchise, and the unreleased DLC 5 would have likely sold like hotcakes.
After all, Black Ops II sold over 29 million copies, a figure that wasn’t matched until Modern Warfare‘s failed 2019 reboot. In fact, every title released between 2013 and 2018 underperformed by comparison, which only makes you wonder what could have been if this DLC had released.
